Every figure below carries its named source and year. The Eco Index scores twelve pillars on the same scale everywhere; seven are measured from published data with fixed thresholds, five are assessed from the named sources.
Australia at a Glance.
The score, and the four numbers that set the tone. 12 equally-weighted pillars, every pillar sourced.
Compare with:
Renewable power
39%
of electricity
Food imported
7%
of merchandise imports · ~US$20,237m a year
The Eco Index across 12 pillars · scored 0 to 5 · World Bank, OWID, WHO/UNICEF JMP, FiBL, Protected Planet, IUCN, UNESCO (2023-24)
Water
Food & farming
Plant-based
Organic
Conservation
Wildlife
Materials
Pollution
Recycling
Energy
Culture
Heritage
Facts That Surprise People About Australia.
The numbers and firsts that change how you see Australia, the sobering and the remarkable. Every one is dated and linked to its source.
SoberingEnvironment
Five mass bleachings in eight years
The Great Barrier Reef suffered mass coral bleaching in 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022 and 2024. IUCN now rates its conservation outlook as critical, with climate change the most significant threat.
Source: IUCN World Heritage Outlook, Great Barrier Reef · 2025
SoberingHealth
Almost two in three adults are overweight
In 2022, 64% of Australian adults were overweight, according to WHO estimates published by the World Bank.
SoberingHealth
1.7 million adults with diabetes
In 2024, about 1,693,700 Australian adults had diabetes, 7.4% of the adult population.
RemarkableNature
The world's largest green turtle nesting population
The northern Great Barrier Reef hosts the largest green turtle breeding population in the world, alongside some 3,000 reefs and more than 1,600 species of fish. IUCN notes the turtle population is in decline.
Source: IUCN World Heritage Outlook, Great Barrier Reef · 2025
RemarkableNature
Living fossils and the biggest seagrass beds
Shark Bay in Western Australia has the largest and richest seagrass beds in the world, covering 4,800 km², and living stromatolites, among the oldest forms of life on Earth.
Source: IUCN World Heritage Outlook, Shark Bay, Western Australia · 2025
RemarkableNature
A rainforest that records 200 million years
Queensland's Wet Tropics hold one of the most complete living records of land plant evolution, from the first ferns more than 200 million years ago to flowering plants. It was listed by UNESCO in 1988.
Source: IUCN World Heritage Outlook, Wet Tropics of Queensland · 2025
The History of Australia.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples speak more than 250 Indigenous languages, including around 800 dialects, among the oldest languages in the world. At Uluru, Anangu still follow the Tjukurpa, their traditional law, and express it through stories, art and Inma, ceremony with its rituals and song lines.
Where the name comes from
From the Latin terra australis, 'southern land', a landmass Europeans had theorised before they reached it. Its peoples had hundreds of names for their own country long before that, none of them 'Australia'. Source: national and regional toponymic records.
The land itself: a low plateau across most of the continent, dry through the interior, with a fertile plain in the south east. Its high point is Mount Kosciuszko, 2,228 m. Source: national mapping and survey records.
Where it starts
Sixty-five thousand years
Optical dating at Madjedbebe on Mirarr country puts human occupation there at around 65,000 years ago, the oldest published age for Australia, though other researchers argue an age above 50,000 years is unlikely to hold, and the site holds the oldest ground-edge stone axe technology in the world. A cremation at Lake Mungo, dating to around 40,000 years ago, is the oldest ritual cremation site in the world. Rock paintings in Kakadu record hunting, gathering, social life and ritual from the Pleistocene to the present, and at Budj Bim the Gunditjmara have shaped channels and weirs in volcanic rock for at least 6,600 years.
How it got here
1788, and 1992
Before 1788, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples spoke more than 250 languages. British settlement from 1788 dispossessed them, in many places violently, and later many thousands of children were forcibly removed from their families. The colonies federated in 1901. In 1992 the High Court recognised native title and replaced the doctrine of terra nullius, the idea that the land had belonged to no one.
The timeline
c. 65,000 years ago
Madjedbebe.
Optical dating of a rock shelter on Mirarr country sets the minimum age for human occupation of Australia at around 65,000 years. Source
c. 65,000 years ago
The oldest tools of their kind.
The same site holds the oldest ground-edge stone axe technology in the world, along with ground ochre and some of the earliest seed-grinding stones. Source
c. 40,000 years ago
Mungo.
A cremation at Lake Mungo dating to around 40,000 years ago is the oldest ritual cremation site in the world. Source
Pleistocene to today
Rock art.
Rock paintings in Kakadu record the hunting, gathering, social life and ritual of Aboriginal people from before the last ice age to the present day. Source
Over six millennia
Budj Bim.
Gunditjmara communities in Victoria use volcanic rock to build channels, weirs and dams to trap, store and harvest eels, one of the world's most extensive and oldest aquaculture systems. Source
1788 to 1850
Colonisation.
British settlement dispossesses Aboriginal people, in many places violently. In south-eastern Australia, one estimate has the Aboriginal population falling from 250,000 in 1788 to 10,000 or 15,000 by 1850. Source
1901
Federation.
Six partly self-governing British colonies unite in 1901 as the Commonwealth of Australia, created by an Act of the British Parliament. Source
1992
Mabo.
The High Court's Mabo decision recognises native title, replacing the doctrine of terra nullius, the idea that the land belonged to no one. Source
Nature, Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago · Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation · UNESCO World Heritage, Budj Bim Cultural Landscape · UNESCO World Heritage, Willandra Lakes Region · UNESCO World Heritage, Kakadu National Park · Aboriginal History Journal (ANU Press), Hiding the bodies · Parliamentary Education Office, Federation · Documenting Democracy, Mabo v Queensland No. 2 1992 · O'Connell et al., When did Homo sapiens first reach Southeast Asia and Sahul?, PNAS 2018 · AIATSIS, Living languages · Australian Human Rights Commission, Bringing them Home report 1997
Nature and Biodiversity in Australia.
The National Reserve System protects roughly 22 to 23 per cent of Australia's land across more than 14,500 areas, and marine protected areas cover about 45 per cent of its waters, rising above 50 per cent after the 2024 Heard and McDonald Islands expansion (World Bank, Pew). The flagship Great Barrier Reef Marine Park spans 344,000 square kilometres and enforcement through Parks Australia and GBRMPA is strong. A large share of the marine estate is only partially protected multiple-use zoning, and the reef is under climate stress.
Is wild Australia protected? 22% of the land is, against a 30% target for 2030
How protected is nature in Australia?
Forest cover17.42%
Terrestrial protected area22%
Marine protected area45.4%
1115 (mammals, birds, fish & plants) listed as threatened.
World Bank Open Data · Protected Planet (UNEP-WCMC / WDPA) · GBIF occurrence data · IUCN Red List, threatened species by country (Summary Statistics, Table 5) · World Bank, Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters): Australia · World Bank, Threatened species (mammals, birds, fish, higher plants): Australia
Found only here. The platypus and echidnas, the world's only egg-laying mammals, plus kangaroos, koalas, wombats and the quokka; the platypus, quokka and koala live nowhere else, while echidnas also range into New Guinea.
The watchlist
ThreatenedBaudin's Black Cockatoo (Zanda baudinii) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Australia in GBIF occurrence data (bird).
ThreatenedHawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Australia in GBIF occurrence data (turtle).
ThreatenedGrey Nurse (Carcharias taurus) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Australia in GBIF occurrence data (shark or ray).
ThreatenedLined Earless Dragon (Tympanocryptis lineata) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Australia in GBIF occurrence data (reptile).
ThreatenedNorthern Corroboree Frog (Pseudophryne pengilleyi) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Australia in GBIF occurrence data (amphibian).
ThreatenedNeedle Geebung (Persoonia acerosa) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Australia in GBIF occurrence data (plant).
ThreatenedPersoonia saccata Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Australia in GBIF occurrence data (plant).
What is still here, and what is gone?
Tap a species for the honest status.
Closest to being lost, by name
Baudin's Black Cockatoo (Zanda baudinii)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Australia. GBIF holds 122 verified occurrence records.
Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Australia. GBIF holds 16 verified occurrence records.
Grey Nurse (Carcharias taurus)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Australia. GBIF holds 30 verified occurrence records.
Lined Earless Dragon (Tympanocryptis lineata)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Australia. GBIF holds 26 verified occurrence records.
Species named here are drawn from GBIF occurrence records for Australia filtered to the IUCN Red List threatened categories. Species are listed where GBIF holds occurrence records for them in this country. Record counts are not published here because the figure cannot be reproduced from a public GBIF query.
Who is putting it back
National park in Tasmania, mapped and named in the open record for Australia. OpenStreetMap.
Nature reserve in New South Wales, mapped and named in the open record for Australia. OpenStreetMap.
Nature reserve in New South Wales, mapped and named in the open record for Australia. OpenStreetMap.
Nature reserve in New South Wales, mapped and named in the open record for Australia. OpenStreetMap.
Nature reserve in New South Wales, mapped and named in the open record for Australia. OpenStreetMap.
Nature reserve in Tasmania, mapped and named in the open record for Australia. OpenStreetMap.
Water and Ocean in Australia.
Australia is the driest inhabited continent and its populous south depends on the chronically over-allocated Murray-Darling Basin and on seawater desalination plants that back up Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide during recurrent drought. Against that supply stress, drinking water is safe for almost the whole population, with the WHO/UNICEF JMP putting safely managed access near 99 per cent, though a minority of remote Indigenous communities still fall short. The tropical north and Tasmania hold far more freshwater than the settled south-east.
Does Australia have enough fresh water? Yes, with headroom
Tap water is safe and excellent in cities; carry it in the Outback where bores and tanks are the norm.
Cleanest water: Tasmania's wilderness rivers and the alpine catchments.
How much fresh water does Australia have, per person?
18,909 m³
Australia
1,000 m³
the UN “water scarce” line
Australia withdraws about 11,620 million cubic metres of fresh water a year (2022). That is 4.7% of the fresh water actually available to it, which FAO counts as no water stress. Of what is taken, farming takes 67%, homes and towns 15%, industry 19%. Source: FAO AQUASTAT.
What are the rules on Australia beaches?
✓Tap water: Drinkable.
✓Plastic rules: Every state and territory has banned lightweight single-use plastic bags, with progressive bans on straws, cutlery and polystyrene rolled out from 2021 to 2023..
✓Solo travel: rated easy on the record for this destination.
✓Marine protection: 45.4% of the sea is protected. The 30x30 pledge is met.
Named on the open map: Almonta Beach, Alva Beach, Back Beach, Betka Beach, Bimbi Beach, Binalong Bay, Boomer Beach, Cheviot Beach. That is 19 named beaches in the public record for Australia, each one a place you can look up before you go. OpenStreetMap.
Where does the sewage go?
95.8%
of people have safely managed sanitation
95.8% of people here use a safely managed sanitation service, meaning waste is contained, emptied and treated rather than reaching the ground or the sea untreated (2024, World Bank / WHO-UNICEF JMP, SDG 6.2.1). That is close to universal coverage.
How is the sea around Australia doing?
One cross-section, every answer measured.
Surface
What the coast carries
Heat and UV are the real hazards; the north has wet season Dec–Mar with croc and stinger risks.
Nearshore
Protected water
45.4% of territorial waters are protected, against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Cleanest
Where the water is cleanest
Tasmania's wilderness rivers and the alpine catchments..
The record
Measured
Australia is the driest inhabited continent and its populous south depends on the chronically over-allocated Murray-Darling Basin and on seawater desalination plants that back up Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide during recurrent drought. Against that supply stress, drinking water is safe for almost the whole population, with the WHO/UNICEF JMP putting safely managed access near 99 per cent, though a minority of remote Indigenous communities still fall short.
Australia scored 73 out of 100 on the Ocean Health Index in its 2025 assessment, above the global average of 72, and ranked 90th of 220 coastal regions. The index team says it is no longer updating scores, so the 2025 figures may be the last.
Sea protected
45.4%
Against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Threatened species
1115 (mammals, birds, fish & plants)
Mammals, birds, fish and higher plants on the IUCN list.
Is the tap water safe in Australia?
Sydney Water supplies drinking water to over 5 million people and says every drop meets the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, published by the National Health and Medical Research Council. Melbourne Water says most of Melbourne's water comes from protected catchments and needs very little treatment, and that it tests water at multiple points across its network and publishes the results. Both cities also draw on desalination. These statements cover the big city networks only, so where your water comes from a rainwater tank, a bore or a small rural scheme, ask the local council or supplier, and follow any boil water notice.
How hard is the water supply being pushed?
Of every 10 buckets nature refills, 0 are already taken. Withdrawals run at 4.7% of what Australia renews internally each year (2022, World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT). That is inside the 25% mark generally treated as water stress, so the supply has headroom.
When is the best time to visit Australia? Tap your month.
Tap your month.
How much fresh water does Australia actually have?
Nature renews about 18,909 cubic metres of fresh water per person per year here. That ranks Australia 175 of 208 countries measured, placing it among the 40 best-watered countries measured. The UN treats anything under 1,000 cubic metres as water scarce, and this is above that line. World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT.
Food and Drink in Australia.
Australia produces much more food than it consumes, exporting around 70 per cent of its agricultural production, while imports account for around 11 per cent of food consumption by value (ABARES). Large sectors such as beef and wheat are heavily export focused, while horticulture, pork and poultry sell most of their production at home, with an emphasis on fresh produce.
Where does the food in Australia come from?
6.5% imported
about US$20,237m a year
On the plate: Tropical and temperate fruit, macadamias, and native bush foods like finger lime, wattleseed and Kakadu plum.
1 of 10
bites are imported
The island buys in more food energy than it eats. About US$20,237m a year leaves the country to pay for it. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
Food is 6.5% of everything Australia imports (2025, World Bank). Farming itself is 2.3% of the economy and 47.2% of the land is agricultural, of which 4% is arable. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
What is killing people in Australia? The imported diet.
Cause of death, and the diet behind it.
Non-communicable diseases, all combined89.6%
Diabetes7.4%
Diabetes Feet Australia says that each year about 6,300 Australians undergo a diabetes related amputation, that diabetes related foot disease causes 47,100 hospital admissions a year, and that 510,000 people live with it. OECD data put Australia's 2023 rate of major lower limb amputation among people with diabetes at 2.3 per 100,000 adults, the second lowest of 28 reporting countries, with minor amputations at 21.3 per 100,000. Source: Diabetes Feet Australia.
Adults living with overweight or obesity. 64%.
Can Australia feed itself?
4.0%
Arable land
47.2%
Agricultural land
329,147
Farmers
76,577,044
Arable acres
2.3%
Agriculture, share of GDP
Harvest: Southern-hemisphere summer and autumn, December to May, while the tropical north runs on a wet season (November to April) and dry season (May to October).
Feeding itself
Australia is a major net food exporter, selling roughly 70 per cent of its agricultural production abroad while importing only about 11 per cent of the food it consumes by value (ABARES). More than nine in ten of the fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, milk and eggs on supermarket shelves are domestically produced.
Certification
Australia holds the largest area of certified organic agricultural land of any country on Earth, about 53 million hectares in recent FiBL/IFOAM data, most of it extensive organic grazing rangeland rather than intensive cropland. FiBL put the organic share of farmland near 10 per cent.
Water for crops
Australia is the driest inhabited continent and its populous south depends on the chronically over-allocated Murray-Darling Basin and on seawater desalination plants that back up Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide during recurrent drought. Against that supply stress, drinking water is safe for almost the whole population, with the WHO/UNICEF JMP putting safely managed access near 99 per cent, though a minority of remote Indigenous communities still fall short.
Why the organic number looks like that. Certification covers only part of what is grown cleanly, so a small certified share is a gap in the paperwork rather than proof that nothing is. What the official land record does show: 47.2% of the country is agricultural land and 4% is arable (2023, World Bank). Certification is paid for per farm per year by a foreign body, which prices out smallholders, so the organic number reads worse than the practice.
What actually grows here
WheatSugarcaneBarleyRapeseedCottonSorghumLentilsGrapes
The food that already fits
The plant-based kitchen here is not an import. By tonnage, the largest crops grown in Australia are wheat, sugarcane, barley and rape or colza seed (FAO, FAOSTAT crop production, 2024). That is what the land itself puts on a plate.
Buy direct where residents buy: Belligen Growers Market, Berrima Schoolyard Market, Bittern Sunday market, Carlton Farmers Market, Ceres Makers and Flea Market, Coffs Coast Growers Market. Each is a mapped, named marketplace, so the money stays with the seller rather than the importer. OpenStreetMap.
Not yet checked by us. Plant based kitchens listed publicly: Smith + Daughters, vegan restaurant in Melbourne (Collingwood): chef Shannon Martinez's evening menu of vegan food, Tuesday to Saturday; Soul Burger, vegan burger bar in Sydney (Glebe, Newtown and Randwick): fully plant based burgers; Loving Hut Cabramatta, vegan restaurant in Sydney: Vietnamese noodle soups, banh mi and rolls. Tell us how they are.
Is this grown in Australia?
Tap a food for the honest answer.
TropicalTemperate fruitMacadamias
World Bank Open Data · FAO, FAOSTAT crop production · World Health Organization · FAO AQUASTAT · Diabetes Feet Australia, home page statistics (October 2026) · OECD Data Explorer, Health care quality and outcomes: primary care, diabetes lower extremity amputation (age and sex standardised, per 100,000 population aged 15+), 2023 · Smith + Daughters, official site · Soul Burger, official site · Loving Hut Cabramatta, official site · Refinery29 Australia, 43 best vegan restaurants in Sydney (updated December 2023) · ABARES, Analysis of Australia's food security and the COVID-19 pandemic
Climate and Energy in Australia.
Australia is one of the highest per-person emitters in the world at about 14.5 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, and it remains a leading global exporter of coal and gas. Renewables reached 38.6 per cent of electricity generation in 2025 and are rising quickly, and the Climate Change Act 2022 legislates net zero by 2050 with a 43 per cent cut on 2005 levels by 2030. Yet the scale of continuing fossil-fuel extraction and export, alongside very high domestic emissions, keeps the overall picture heavy. On this measure the country sits in the lowest band despite genuine progress in the power sector.
What powers Australia?
Renewable 38.7%Fossil 61.3%
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), an independent not for profit company, operates the power system and markets in the National Electricity Market of eastern and southern Australia, plans its national transmission system and also has functions in Western Australia under that state's market rules. Its members are the state and federal governments, with a 60 per cent membership interest, and energy industry participants, with 40 per cent. Registered participants pay fees for its services. AEMO publishes the Integrated System Plan every two years, a roadmap of at least 20 years for the generation, storage and transmission needed to reach net zero by 2050. In November 2025 Victoria moved responsibility for planning its declared shared network, and all of AEMO's related functions to VicGrid.
Climate pollution per person
The safe amount, what the planet can absorb
2 tonnes
One person here
14.1 tonnes
The world average, for comparison
4.7 tonnes
The worst it ever got
19.24 tonnes
The grid
Australia is one of the highest per-person emitters in the world at about 14.5 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, and it remains a leading global exporter of coal and gas. Renewables reached roughly 35 per cent of electricity generation in 2023 and are rising quickly, and the Climate Change Act 2022 legislates net zero by 2050 with a 43 per cent cut on 2005 levels by 2030.
Pollution
Every state and territory has banned lightweight single-use plastic bags, and most have progressively banned straws, cutlery, plates and polystyrene between 2021 and 2023. Ambient air is clean, with a modelled PM2.5 annual mean around 6.4 micrograms per cubic metre (World Bank), close to the WHO guideline.
Water stress
Australia is the driest inhabited continent and its populous south depends on the chronically over-allocated Murray-Darling Basin and on seawater desalination plants that back up Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide during recurrent drought. Against that supply stress, drinking water is safe for almost the whole population, with the WHO/UNICEF JMP putting safely managed access near 99 per cent, though a minority of remote Indigenous communities still fall short.
What pollutes most here
1The grid The share of electricity still generated from fossil fuel.64.9%
2Industry Open-cut coal and gas in the Hunter Valley and Bowen Basin, plus broadscale land clearing..named
3Air Modelled annual mean against a WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.6.4
4On the record Every state and territory has banned lightweight single-use plastic bags, and most have progressively banned straws, cutlery, plates and polystyrene between 2021 and 2023.
What has Australia promised on climate?
Net zero, whole economy2050
Electricity renewable today26.7% (2021)
Land protected, against a 30% target22% by 2025
Sea protected, against a 30% target45.4% by 2025
The net-zero target year on file with Climate Watch is 2050, status: in law; in policy document. Measured against it, 26.7% of electricity is already renewable (2021, World Bank), so 73.3% of the grid is still to be converted. The pledge on file is measured here against what has actually been delivered, not taken on its own (UNFCCC NDC Registry, CBD Kunming-Montreal Target 3).
The biggest line item
One return flight against a whole year of living.
A resident's entire year14.1 t CO2e
Safe-climate budget, per year2 t CO2e
London return, economy3.06 t CO2e
Paris return, economy3.05 t CO2e
Frankfurt return, economy2.96 t CO2e
New York return, economy2.93 t CO2e
Los Angeles return, economy2.22 t CO2e
How much CO2 does flying to Australia emit?
Tap where you would fly from. One return flight, economy.
Firsts on climate finance. In June 2024 the Australian Office of Financial Management sold Australia's first green Treasury bond, a A$7 billion 10 year bond. CEDA reports that bids came to more than three times the amount on offer, from green funds, offshore central banks and Australian super funds, and estimates the green premium at about two basis points, saving about A$11 million in interest over the bond's life. Green Treasury bonds are now part of regular federal borrowing: the AOFM's May 2026 budget notice says Treasury bond issuance, green bonds included, will be around A$125 billion in 2026/27.
AI and Data Centres in Australia.
Every prompt runs on a machine in a building on somebody’s grid. What that costs the planet depends less on the prompt than on what is burning to power it. Here is what would power one in Australia.
Data centres
160
Registered colocation and interconnection facilities, PeeringDB, 2026
Grid renewable
38.7 %
What a machine here runs on.
What powers a data centre in Australia?
Most of the power behind a machine here is still burned.
Renewable 38.7%Fossil 61.3%
Cooling water. Every one of those halls runs on the national grid, which is 26.7% renewable today (World Bank). A data centre is only as clean as the electricity behind it, so the same figure that decides this country's climate score also decides the footprint of the AI running inside it. Cooling water use is not separately published by facility, and no operator here reports it.
The rules. Australia has 160 colocation and interconnection facilities on the public PeeringDB register, concentrated in Sydney (15), Brisbane (13), Adelaide (12), alongside 36 internet exchanges (IX Australia Perth (WA-IX), Equinix Sydney, ACTIX, IX Australia Melbourne (VIC-IX)). Named sites include Equinix SY1/SY2 - Sydney, PIPE Networks Brisbane, PIPE Networks Sydney, PIPE Networks Melbourne.
Where the cables land. 27 landing points · Adelaide, SA, Alexandria, NSW, Alyangula, NT, Boat Harbour, TAS
Economy and Tourism in Australia.
74% residents to 26% visitors across a year. 9,466,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 27,614,411 people who live here (2025, World Bank / UN Tourism).
Where a visitor dollar goes in Australia
1,828k
Visitors a year
0.1
Visitors per resident
How deep in debt is Australia?· for every $100 Australia earns in a year, it owes…
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · the 2020 peak
$ 57The worst year on the IMF record. Australia owed $57 for every $100 it earned.
IMF World Economic Outlook, 2020signed, the creditors
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · today
$ 51What is owed now, for every $100 of national income (2026).
IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026signed, the creditors
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · projected 2031
$ 49The IMF's own forecast has this falling to $49 by 2031.
IMF World Economic Outlook projection, 2031signed, the forecast
For every $100 Australia earns in a year, it owes $51 (2026, IMF World Economic Outlook). The interest on that is paid before schools, clinics or coastline get their turn.
Where does a tourist dollar actually go in Australia?
Play one tourist dollar around the board. Every square is a measured fact from this page.
START!
1
GO: a visitor lands
$100 goes on the table. 9,466,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 27,614,411 residents, one visitor a year for every 3 residents (World Bank / UN Tourism).
$100 in play2
The bed
Who owns the largest places to stay in Australia is not published in the records we can check, so this square is left open rather than guessed. Where a listing names its owner, it is shown in the ownership table below.
not published3
The plate
Food is only 6.5% of everything Australia imports (2025, World Bank), so most of a meal is bought from producers inside the country. Eating what the land here actually grows, wheat, sugarcane, barley, rapeseed, cotton, sorghum, lentils, grapes, keeps that money with the grower.
mostly home-grown4
The power
73.3% of the electricity is fossil (2021, World Bank). Lighting, cooling and hot water are paid for largely in imported fuel.
burns away5
What actually stays
On the parts that can be measured, the power leaves and the plate stays. It is genuinely a coin toss, decided by what you book.
split6
Pay the bank first
Australia owes $51 for every $100 it earns (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). The interest is paid before anything else on this board.
$51 per $1007
No plan B
35.0% of everything Australia sells abroad is mineral fuels and oils (2023, UN Comtrade). One market moving takes the whole board with it.
35.0% one export8
Community chest
Tourism earns 8.7% of everything Australia makes from exports (2020, World Bank / UN Tourism). That is how much of the economy depends on the game continuing.
8.7% of exports9
The flight
Getting here is usually the biggest single line on the bill. From London a return economy seat is 3.06 t CO2, on the UK Government's published conversion factors. It is the one part of the trip this board cannot reduce.
3.06 t CO210
Back to GO
The economy turns over about US$2,124 billion a year (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). Every lap of this board is a choice about how much of it stays.
US$2,124bnGDPUS$1,798.5bn
Agriculture, share of GDP2.3%
Visitors a year1,828,000
Visitors per resident0.1
Residents~27,614,411
Agriculture
Farming is 2.3% of the economy. Australia is a major net food exporter, selling roughly 70 per cent of its agricultural production abroad while importing only about 11 per cent of the food it consumes by value (ABARES).
Natural materials
Australia is the world's largest producer of fine apparel wool and its biggest wool exporter, led by Merino from a national flock of tens of millions of sheep (China shears more greasy wool by weight, FAOSTAT 2024), and irrigated cotton is a major crop. Alongside the pastoral wool heritage sit rich Indigenous fibre traditions such as spinifex and pandanus string bags and possum-skin cloaks.
Energy
Australia is one of the highest per-person emitters in the world at about 14.5 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, and it remains a leading global exporter of coal and gas. Renewables reached roughly 35 per cent of electricity generation in 2023 and are rising quickly, and the Climate Change Act 2022 legislates net zero by 2050 with a 43 per cent cut on 2005 levels by 2030.
Who owns the biggest hotels in Australia?
By rooms · company records and press.
Brogers End · ~2 roomsIndependentnot published
Silky Oaks Lodge · ~40 roomsCorporatenot published
Southern Ocean Lodge · ~25 roomsIndependentnot published
Daintree Ecolodge · ~15 roomsIndependentnot published
Elysian Eco Retreat · ~10 roomsIndependentnot published
Mt. Mulligan Lodge · ~12 roomsIndependentnot published
Saffire Freycinet · ~20 roomsCorporatenot published
Visitors, over time
20157,449k
20168,269k
20178,815k
20189,246k
20199,466k
20201,828k
International tourism receipts run at about US$26.23 billion in 2020 (World Bank / UN Tourism). That is 8.7% of everything the country earns from exports.
How much of your money actually stays here?
Tap the holiday you are planning.
Visiting Australia, whoever you are.
Resort guest, villa renter, family, nomad or backpacker. The honest playbook for each, from the same sourced numbers.
Already booked a resort? · the rescue list
Five swaps that move your money back on-island
1. Eat where the country eats Choose kitchens cooking what the land here grows, wheat, sugarcane, barley, rapeseed, cotton, sorghum, lentils and grapes, over an imported menu. The checked list
2. Book with a local operator Never the lobby desk. The margin on a tour is the part that stays.
3. Stay somewhere locally owned Ownership decides where the room rate books. Eco stays
4. Use the transport residents use Vast distances mean domestic flights for long hauls and self-drive road trips, with good trains, trams and ferries within the cities.
5. Buy the craft, not the souvenir Natural-materials work made here pays the maker directly; imported gifts pay a shipping line.
Swipe
First time here
Australia pairs the planet's most distinctive wildlife and an enormous protected estate on land and sea with clean air and abundant home-grown food, offset by drought-prone water and a heavy coal and gas export economy.
Best time: Spring (September to November) and autumn (March to May) for the south and east; the tropical north is best in the dry season, May to October.
Getting around
Vast distances mean domestic flights for long hauls and self-drive road trips, with good trains, trams and ferries within the cities.
Transport is where the fare either stays or leaves.
Eating here
The everyday plate that actually grows here is wheat, sugarcane, barley, rapeseed, cotton, sorghum, lentils and grapes. Ordering those keeps the money with the grower and cuts the imported share of the meal.
Eating what the country grows is the cheapest way to cut the import bill.
Good to know
Cards everywhere, cash almost never needed; AUD. Drive on the left.
Rate my hotel. Tap yours for the honest verdict.
Ownership from company records and press.
Who owns the big hotels
Brogers EndIndependent · 2 rooms
Silky Oaks LodgeCorporate · 40 rooms
Southern Ocean LodgeIndependent · 25 rooms
Daintree EcolodgeIndependent · 15 rooms
Elysian Eco RetreatIndependent · 10 rooms
Mt. Mulligan LodgeIndependent · 12 rooms
None of the 7 properties listed here publishes who ultimately owns it, so no claim is made either way. Ownership is what decides how much of a room rate stays in the country, which is why we show it when a listing states it.
Society and Governance in Australia.
How well is Australia actually run?
Governance, measured · World Bank WGI
Four measured answers, none of them opinion. Averaged across corruption control, delivery and accountability, Australia scores 85 out of 100 (2024, World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators). That is a state that generally does what it says it will do, which is what makes a climate pledge worth reading.
What is daily life in Australia really like? Measured
Getting around, breathing, throwing away, learning. The honest checklist.
TransportAirWaterWastePower
✓How you get around Vast distances mean domestic flights for long hauls and self-drive road trips, with good trains, trams and ferries within the cities.
Made in Australia.
Australia is the world's largest producer of fine apparel wool and its biggest wool exporter, led by Merino from a national flock of tens of millions of sheep (China shears more greasy wool by weight, FAOSTAT 2024), and irrigated cotton is a major crop. Alongside the pastoral wool heritage sit rich Indigenous fibre traditions such as spinifex and pandanus string bags and possum-skin cloaks. Every step of processing done at home is value that stops leaving the country.
What Australia actually sells the world
The single biggest thing Australia sells the world is mineral fuels and oils, 35.0% of all exports in 2023 (about US$129.17 billion, UN Comtrade). The next four are ores, slag and ash at 28.1%, pearls, gemstones and precious metals at 5.4%, cereals at 3.5%, salt, sulphur, stone and cement at 3.5%.
Sells now · 35.0% of exports
Mineral fuels and oils
Mineral fuels and oils is 35.0% of everything Australia sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$129.17 billion. UN Comtrade.
Sells now · 28.1% of exports
Ores, slag and ash
Ores, slag and ash is 28.1% of everything Australia sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$103.64 billion. UN Comtrade.
Sells now · 5.4% of exports
Pearls, gemstones and precious metals
Pearls, gemstones and precious metals is 5.4% of everything Australia sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$20.06 billion. UN Comtrade.
Sells now · 3.5% of exports
Cereals
Cereals is 3.5% of everything Australia sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$12.86 billion. UN Comtrade.
Sells now · 3.5% of exports
Salt, sulphur, stone and cement
Salt, sulphur, stone and cement is 3.5% of everything Australia sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$12.82 billion. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 15.6% of imports
Vehicles
Australia imported US$44.86 billion of vehicles in 2023, 15.6% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 14.0% of imports
Machinery and mechanical appliances
Australia imported US$40.41 billion of machinery and mechanical appliances in 2023, 14.0% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 10.3% of imports
Electrical machinery and electronics
Australia imported US$29.70 billion of electrical machinery and electronics in 2023, 10.3% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 3.9% of imports
Pharmaceuticals
Australia imported US$11.35 billion of pharmaceuticals in 2023, 3.9% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
The maths for an entrepreneur. Australia produces about US$1,799 billion a year, which is roughly US$65,130 per person (2025, World Bank). Farming is 2.3% of that, while food is 6.5% of everything the country imports. The country buys in more food than its own farms contribute to the economy, and every point of that gap is a business someone could build here rather than ship in.
See the verified makersCulture in Australia.
Aboriginal songlines
At Uluru, Anangu still keep up Inma, ceremony with its rituals and song lines, and care for the paths of the ancestral beings across the land.
Dreaming (Tjukurpa)
For the Anangu of Uluru, the Tjukurpa is the foundation of law and spirituality, telling of a time when ancestral beings travelled the land and shaped its features.
Corroboree ceremony
The word corroboree comes from carriberie, a word in a Sydney language for a ceremony of singing, storytelling and dancing.
Yidaki (didgeridoo)
The yidaki belongs to the Yolngu people of north-east Arnhem Land and is tied to their law and ceremony, through song, dance, art and story.
Does Australia protect its heritage by law?
Partly, and the gaps say as much as the protections.
What is kept alive. Australia is home to the world's oldest continuous living cultures, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditions stretching back tens of thousands of years. Songlines, or Dreaming tracks, map Country through story and song, and ceremony, corroboree, the yidaki (didgeridoo) and Torres Strait Islander dance remain living practice. Colonisation, dispossession and language loss disrupted much of this heritage, though revival work, Indigenous ranger programmes and Welcome to Country ceremonies sustain it today.
Who it belongs to. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold the world's oldest continuous living cultures, stretching back more than 60,000 years, and Indigenous-led tourism is a growing sector supported by initiatives such as Discover Aboriginal Experiences. Indigenous Protected Areas make up a large share of the National Reserve System, and caring-for-Country land management including cultural burning is increasingly central. Benefit-sharing is still developing and the wider tourism economy remains mainstream.
Only here. The platypus, an egg-laying mammal that lives in the wild only in Australia..
The Future of Australia.
Three futures for Australia, every one run forward from measured data.
Where the making actually happens
Named cultural and craft sites on the open map: Tamworth Regional Craft Centre (Tamworth), Burnside Arts and Craft Centre (Adelaide), Craft and Design Centre (Canberra), History and Craft Centre (Townsville), Walker Street Craft Centre (Bundaberg). OpenStreetMap.
Every measured trend on one line
Run forward at the pace already recorded.
World Bank open data, recorded series
How much forest is left?
Forest cover moved from 17.4% to 17.4% across 29 recorded years.
How clean is the grid?
Renewable electricity moved from 9.6% to 26.7% across 26 recorded years.
How much climate pollution per person?
CO2 per person moved from 16.8 t to 14.1 t across 29 recorded years.
How many people visit?
Tourist arrivals moved from 3,726k to 1,828k across 25 recorded years.
How much land is protected?
Protected land moved from 12.9% to 22% across 12 recorded years.
How many people still farm?
Farm workforce moved from 5.32% to 2.18% across 30 recorded years.
How much sea is protected?
Protected sea moved from 43.9% to 45.4% across 12 recorded years.
How much land is farmed?
Agricultural land moved from 60.3% to 47.3% across 29 recorded years.
How fast is it urbanising?
Urban population moved from 85.3% to 87.7% across 30 recorded years.
Is the air getting cleaner?
Air pollution moved from 6.13 µg/m³ to 6.41 µg/m³ across 28 recorded years.
Is water getting scarcer?
Fresh water per person moved from 27,326 m³ to 18,909 m³ across 27 recorded years.
Is diet-related disease rising?
Adult overweight moved from 51.1% to 64% across 27 recorded years.
Who has power?
Electricity access moved from 100% to 100% across 29 recorded years.
Is income rising?
GDP per person moved from 20,479 to 65,130 across 30 recorded years.
How fast is it growing?
Population moved from 18,005k to 27,614k across 30 recorded years.
What share of all energy is renewable?
Renewable energy use moved from 8.2% to 12.3% across 26 recorded years.
How much energy does one person use?
Energy per person moved from 5,138 kg to 5,000 kg across 29 recorded years.
How much land and sea is protected together?
Protected area, total moved from 28.1% to 33.5% across 12 recorded years.
How long do people live?
Life expectancy moved from 77.8 yrs to 83.1 yrs across 29 recorded years.
How much does a hectare of cereal produce?
Cereal yield moved from 1,860 kg/ha to 2,690 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How much fertiliser goes on the land?
Fertiliser use moved from 111 kg/ha to 151 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How many people still live rurally?
Rural population moved from 14.7% to 12.3% across 30 recorded years.
How much value per cubic metre of water?
Water productivity moved from 35.7 $/m3 to 137 $/m3 across 27 recorded years.
How much goes on health?
Health spending moved from 7.59% to 10.4% across 23 recorded years.
How much forest is there in total?
Forest area moved from 1,337,410 km2 to 1,335,616 km2 across 30 recorded years.
How much electricity per person?
Electric power use moved from 9,028 kWh to 9,795 kWh across 30 recorded years.
How have agriculture emissions moved?
Agriculture emissions moved from 179.38 to 214.6 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have building emissions moved?
Building emissions moved from 9.36 to 13.46 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have electricity/heat emissions moved?
Electricity/Heat emissions moved from 143.23 to 199.79 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have energy emissions moved?
Energy emissions moved from 288.71 to 416.29 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have industrial processes emissions moved?
Industrial Processes emissions moved from 11.61 to 18.35 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have manufacturing/construction emissions moved?
Manufacturing/Construction emissions moved from 43.09 to 40.21 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
Worst caseCurrent pathBest case
Worst case
Every measured decline continues at the pace already recorded. The weakest pillar, energy at 2/5, is the one that gives way first.
Computed from: recorded series extended with no policy change
What the best case actually asks for
Lift energy
It scores 2 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Australia's record. Australia is one of the highest per-person emitters in the world at about 14.5 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, and it remains a leading global exporter of coal and gas.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift wildlife
It scores 3 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Australia's record. Australia's endemism is extraordinary: more than 80% of its native mammals live nowhere else, including the world's only egg-laying mammals, the platypus and echidnas, and the greatest diversity of marsupials on Earth.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift natural fibres
It scores 3 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Australia's record. Australia is the world's largest producer of fine apparel wool and its biggest wool exporter, led by Merino from a national flock of tens of millions of sheep (China shears more greasy wool by weight, FAOSTAT 2024), and irrigated cotton is a major crop.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Government and Goals in Australia.
Who is in charge of Australia now · Office-holders from the UN Protocol and Liaison Service public list of Heads of State and Heads of Government, 20 October 2026. Legislature and election dates from IFES ElectionGuide. Constitution dates from the Constitute Project. Governance scores from the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators 2024.
Anthony Albanese
Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese is the head of government of Australia, in office since 23 May 2022. Every climate, protection and energy pledge on this page is delivered, or not, under this administration.
Public opinion, measured
Voice and accountability, the freedom to question government scores 83.7 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Unchanged from 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Control of corruption scores 85.1 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 84.7 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Political stability and absence of violence scores 79.3 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 81.1 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Rule of law scores 82.7 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 83.1 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Regulatory quality scores 84.2 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 84.7 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Anthony AlbanesePrime Minister
ParliamentLegislature, bicameral
Last election3 May 2025
Constitution1901, as revised to 1985
Government typefederal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Australia national goals: climate commitments on record · as recorded by Climate Watch, World Resources Institute
Plain Answers About Australia.
The questions people actually type, answered in full sentences from the sourced data above.
Swipe
Is Australia sustainable?
Australia scores 77 out of 100 on the Throne Eco Index, across twelve equally weighted pillars. Australia pairs the planet's most distinctive wildlife and an enormous protected estate on land and sea with clean air and abundant home-grown food, offset by drought-prone water and a heavy coal and gas export economy.
Is the water in Australia safe and plentiful?
Australia is the driest inhabited continent and its populous south depends on the chronically over-allocated Murray-Darling Basin and on seawater desalination plants that back up Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide during recurrent drought. Against that supply stress, drinking water is safe for almost the whole population, with the WHO/UNICEF JMP putting safely managed access near 99 per cent, though a minority of remote Indigenous communities still fall short. The tropical north and Tasmania hold far more freshwater than the settled south-east.
Can Australia feed itself?
Australia is a major net food exporter, selling roughly 70 per cent of its agricultural production abroad while importing only about 11 per cent of the food it consumes by value (ABARES). More than nine in ten of the fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, milk and eggs on supermarket shelves are domestically produced. It is one of the world's largest beef, wheat, wool and canola exporters.
Is it easy to eat plant-based in Australia?
Fresh local produce is available year-round across climate zones from the tropical north to temperate Tasmania, and Melbourne and Sydney have among the most developed plant-based and vegan dining scenes in the world. Native bush foods such as macadamia, finger lime, wattleseed and vitamin-rich Kakadu plum are increasingly used. The mainstream diet remains meat-heavy, so plant-based eating is easy in cities but not the cultural default.
How much of Australia is actually protected?
The National Reserve System protects roughly 22 to 23 per cent of Australia's land across more than 14,500 areas, and marine protected areas cover about 45 per cent of its waters, rising above 50 per cent after the 2024 Heard and McDonald Islands expansion (World Bank, Pew). The flagship Great Barrier Reef Marine Park spans 344,000 square kilometres and enforcement through Parks Australia and GBRMPA is strong. A large share of the marine estate is only partially protected multiple-use zoning, and the reef is under climate stress.
What wildlife is left in Australia?
Australia's endemism is extraordinary: more than 80% of its native mammals live nowhere else, including the world's only egg-laying mammals, the platypus and echidnas, and the greatest diversity of marsupials on Earth. Iconic species include the koala, kangaroo, wombat and quokka. The record is not spotless, as Australia has suffered the worst modern mammal-extinction rate of any country, but fenced feral-predator sanctuaries and rewilding are expanding.
Is Australia on clean energy?
Australia is one of the highest per-person emitters in the world at about 14.5 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, and it remains a leading global exporter of coal and gas. Renewables reached roughly 35 per cent of electricity generation in 2023 and are rising quickly, and the Climate Change Act 2022 legislates net zero by 2050 with a 43 per cent cut on 2005 levels by 2030. Yet the scale of continuing fossil-fuel extraction and export, alongside very high domestic emissions, keeps the overall picture heavy.
How polluted is Australia?
Every state and territory has banned lightweight single-use plastic bags, and most have progressively banned straws, cutlery, plates and polystyrene between 2021 and 2023. Ambient air is clean, with a modelled PM2.5 annual mean around 6.4 micrograms per cubic metre (World Bank), close to the WHO guideline. The main caveats are episodic bushfire smoke that can spike air quality badly, as in the 2019 to 2020 Black Summer, and high per-capita plastic consumption.
Does recycling work in Australia?
Kerbside recycling is near-universal and Australia recovers around 60 per cent across all waste streams, though household municipal recycling sits lower at roughly 46 per cent (National Waste Report). Most of the recovered tonnage is construction, demolition and commercial waste rather than household material. Container-deposit schemes now operate in most states.
Is the farming in Australia organic?
Australia holds the largest area of certified organic agricultural land of any country on Earth, about 53 million hectares in recent FiBL/IFOAM data, most of it extensive organic grazing rangeland rather than intensive cropland. FiBL put the organic share of farmland near 10 per cent. The scale is unmatched even if it reflects vast low-intensity pastoral country.
Are there natural materials and craft in Australia?
Australia is the world's largest producer of fine apparel wool and its biggest wool exporter, led by Merino from a national flock of tens of millions of sheep (China shears more greasy wool by weight, FAOSTAT 2024), and irrigated cotton is a major crop. Alongside the pastoral wool heritage sit rich Indigenous fibre traditions such as spinifex and pandanus string bags and possum-skin cloaks. These are living, working material cultures rather than museum crafts.
Is there living culture in Australia?
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold the world's oldest continuous living cultures, stretching back more than 60,000 years, and Indigenous-led tourism is a growing sector supported by initiatives such as Discover Aboriginal Experiences. Indigenous Protected Areas make up a large share of the National Reserve System, and caring-for-Country land management including cultural burning is increasingly central. Benefit-sharing is still developing and the wider tourism economy remains mainstream.
What heritage does Australia keep alive?
Australia is home to the world's oldest continuous living cultures, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditions stretching back tens of thousands of years. Songlines, or Dreaming tracks, map Country through story and song, and ceremony, corroboree, the yidaki (didgeridoo) and Torres Strait Islander dance remain living practice. Colonisation, dispossession and language loss disrupted much of this heritage, though revival work, Indigenous ranger programmes and Welcome to Country ceremonies sustain it today.
So is Australia actually green? The measured answer
What is working: sea protected at 45.4%.
What is not: renewable electricity at 26.7% against a 100% mark.
How Australia Ranks, region and world.
Where Australia sits on the Eco Index, against its Oceania neighbours and the 77 destinations scored worldwide.
The global top 10 of the 77 destinations scored
1Switzerland78
2France78
3Finland77
4Slovenia77
6Portugal75
7Germany75
8New Zealand75
9Italy73
10Spain73
Australia sits 5 of 77 at 77/100. Every name links to its own destination page, built exactly like this one. The full ranking
What is Australia particularly good at?
✓ Water, scored 5/5. Australia is the driest inhabited continent and its populous south depends on the chronically over-allocated Murray-Darling Basin and on seawater desalination plants that back up Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide during recurrent drought. Against that supply stress, drinking water is safe for almost the whole population, with the WHO/UNICEF JMP putting safely managed access near 99 per cent, though a minority of remote Indigenous communities still fall short. The tropical north and Tasmania hold far more freshwater than the settled south-east.
✓ Food and farming, scored 5/5. Australia is a major net food exporter, selling roughly 70 per cent of its agricultural production abroad while importing only about 11 per cent of the food it consumes by value (ABARES). More than nine in ten of the fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, milk and eggs on supermarket shelves are domestically produced. It is one of the world's largest beef, wheat, wool and canola exporters.
✓ Conservation, scored 5/5. The National Reserve System protects roughly 22 to 23 per cent of Australia's land across more than 14,500 areas, and marine protected areas cover about 45 per cent of its waters, rising above 50 per cent after the 2024 Heard and McDonald Islands expansion (World Bank, Pew). The flagship Great Barrier Reef Marine Park spans 344,000 square kilometres and enforcement through Parks Australia and GBRMPA is strong. A large share of the marine estate is only partially protected multiple-use zoning, and the reef is under climate stress.
Where does Australia score worst?
✕ Energy, scored 2/5. Australia is one of the highest per-person emitters in the world at about 14.5 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, and it remains a leading global exporter of coal and gas. Renewables reached 38.6 per cent of electricity generation in 2025 and are rising quickly, and the Climate Change Act 2022 legislates net zero by 2050 with a 43 per cent cut on 2005 levels by 2030. Yet the scale of continuing fossil-fuel extraction and export, alongside very high domestic emissions, keeps the overall picture heavy. On this measure the country sits in the lowest band despite genuine progress in the power sector.
✕ Wildlife, scored 3/5. Australia's endemism is extraordinary: more than 80% of its native mammals live nowhere else, including the world's only egg-laying mammals, the platypus and echidnas, and the greatest diversity of marsupials on Earth. Iconic species include the koala, kangaroo, wombat and quokka. The record is not spotless, as Australia has suffered the worst modern mammal-extinction rate of any country, but fenced feral-predator sanctuaries and rewilding are expanding.
✕ Natural fibres, scored 3/5. Australia is the world's largest producer of fine apparel wool and its biggest wool exporter, led by Merino from a national flock of tens of millions of sheep (China shears more greasy wool by weight, FAOSTAT 2024), and irrigated cotton is a major crop. Alongside the pastoral wool heritage sit rich Indigenous fibre traditions such as spinifex and pandanus string bags and possum-skin cloaks. These are living, working material cultures rather than museum crafts.
A note from the lens of mother natureSwipe
Energy, 2/5
Australia is one of the highest per-person emitters in the world at about 14.5 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, and it remains a leading global exporter of coal and gas.
Consequence: It is the lowest-scoring part of Australia's record, so it is where the score moves first.
Wildlife, 3/5
Australia's endemism is extraordinary: more than 80% of its native mammals live nowhere else, including the world's only egg-laying mammals, the platypus and echidnas, and the greatest diversity of marsupials on Earth. Iconic species include the koala, kangaroo, wombat and quokka.
Natural fibres, 3/5
Australia is the world's largest producer of fine apparel wool and its biggest wool exporter, led by Merino from a national flock of tens of millions of sheep (China shears more greasy wool by weight, FAOSTAT 2024), and irrigated cotton is a major crop.
The Australia Directory.
Everything on Hold The Throne that sits in Australia, checked and listed.
How the rest of the world scores Australia
Independent global indices, for calibration.
Forest cover
17.4
World Bank, 2024.
Protected land
22.0
World Bank, 2025.
Protected sea
45.4
World Bank, 2025.
Renewable grid
26.7
World Bank, 2021.
CO2 per person
14.1 tonnes (2024)
World Bank, 2024.
Threatened species
1115 (mammals, birds, fish & plants)
Recorded figure, sourced on this page.
Control of corruption
85.1 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Government effectiveness
88.2 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Rule of law
82.7 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Political stability
79.3 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Voice and accountability
83.7 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Environmental Performance Index
59.4 / 100 · 25 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 25 of 177 countries assessed.
Ecosystem vitality
54.8 / 100 · 30 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 30 of 177 countries assessed.
Biodiversity and habitat
53.1 / 100 · 51 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 51 of 177 countries assessed.
Air quality
88.9 / 100 · 6 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 6 of 177 countries assessed.
Terrestrial biomes protected
72.7 / 100 · 59 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 59 of 177 countries assessed.
Marine habitat protected
50.6 / 100 · 14 of 111
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 14 of 111 countries assessed.
How Australia Is Scored. The Throne Standard.
Every destination on the index is scored the same way, so a 4 in Barbados means exactly what a 4 means in Iceland. No self-declared data and no brochure claims are accepted. Seven pillars are scored from published measurements with the same fixed thresholds everywhere: energy (low-carbon share of electricity, 90% or more scores 5, 70% 4, 50% 3, 25% 2), conservation (land and sea protected), water (safe drinking water, wastewater treated, water stress), organic farmland, recycling, food import dependence and air quality. Where a measurement is not published for a place, that pillar keeps its source-assessed score and is labelled as such. Wildlife, culture, heritage, materials and plant-based eating have no comparable measurement and are assessed from the named sources. The Eco Index is the average of the twelve pillar scores multiplied by 20. Every figure on this page carries its named source and year, and the history on each page names what empire took as plainly as it scores the present.
The 12 pillars every destination is scored on, equally weighted
01
Water
Safe drinking water, wastewater treated and water stress. Measured.
02
Food & farming
How much of the import bill is food: whether the place feeds itself. Measured.
03
Plant-based
How easy it is to eat plant-based, from documented sources.
04
Organic
Certified organic share of farmland. Measured.
05
Conservation
Land and sea legally protected, against the 30 by 30 goal. Measured.
06
Wildlife
What survives, what is endemic, what is lost, from documented sources.
07
Materials
Local natural fibres and craft, from documented sources.
08
Pollution
Air quality (PM2.5, measured) and plastics and waste policy.
09
Recycling
Share of municipal waste recycled. Measured.
10
Energy
Low-carbon share of electricity, nuclear included. Measured.
11
Culture
Living culture and community-led visits, from documented sources.
12
Heritage
What the law keeps standing, from documented sources.
What each 0 to 5 pillar score means, in plain words
0
Absent
nothing verifiable exists
1
Failing
measurably going the wrong way
2
Weak
claims outrun delivery
3
Fair
real effort, mixed results
4
Strong
genuinely good, evidence named
5
Leading
world class, and the trend holds
Where the numbers come from.
The institutions above are the ones cited on this page, ranked by how many of its figures they carry. This same sectioned page renders for all 77 scored destinations, each with its own researched history, comparison charts and three-way future. Read the full methodology
Every figure on this page, and where it came from: 86 sources across 38 institutions
World Bank17 FIGURES
- Forest area (% of land area) AG.LND.FRST.ZS, 2023 check
- Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters) ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS (45.4%), 2024 check
- PM2.5 mean annual exposure EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3 (6.4 ug/m3), 2023 check
- Threatened species (mammals EN.MAM.THRD.NO, birds EN.BIR.THRD.NO, fish EN.FSH.THRD.NO, higher plants EN.HPT.THRD.NO), 2022 check
- Terrestrial protected areas (% of land) ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, 2025 check
- Renewable electricity output (% of total) EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS, 2021 check
- CO2 emissions per capita EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5, 2024 check
- GDP (current US$) NY.GDP.MKTP.CD, 2025 check
- International tourist arrivals ST.INT.ARVL, 2020 check
- Agricultural land (% of land area) AG.LND.AGRI.ZS, 2023 check
- Arable land (% of land area) AG.LND.ARBL.ZS, 2023 check
- Agriculture, value added (% of GDP) NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS, 2025 check
- Renewable internal freshwater per capita (m3) ER.H2O.INTR.PC, 2022 check
- Safely managed sanitation (% of population) SH.STA.SMSS.ZS, 2024 check
- Overweight prevalence, adults (%) SH.STA.OWAD.ZS, 2022 check
- Central government debt (% of GDP) GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS, 2022 check
- Population total SP.POP.TOTL, 2025 check
GBIF occurrence search7 FIGURES
- Australia, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Aves, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Australia in GBIF occurrence data (bird). check
- Australia, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Aves corroboration check
- Australia, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Testudines, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Australia in GBIF occurrence data (turtle). check
- Australia, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Elasmobranchii, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Australia in GBIF occurrence data (shark or ray). check
- Australia, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Squamata, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Australia in GBIF occurrence data (reptile). check
- Australia, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Amphibia, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Australia in GBIF occurrence data (amphibian). check
- Australia, IUCN category Critically Endangered, kingdom Plantae, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Australia in GBIF occurrence data (plant). check
NSW Environment Protection Authority7 FIGURES
- About the plastics bans, Every state and territory has banned lightweight single-use plastic bags, and most have progressively banned s check
- About the plastics bans corroboration check
- About the plastics bans corroboration check
- About the plastics bans corroboration check
- About the plastics bans corroboration check
- About the plastics bans corroboration check
- About the plastics bans corroboration check
Australian Museum5 FIGURES
- national heritage and antiquities authority check
- What is a monotreme?, The platypus and echidnas, the world's only egg-laying mammals, plus kangaroos, koalas, wombats and the quokka check
- What is a monotreme? corroboration check
- What is a monotreme? corroboration check
- What is a monotreme? corroboration check
FAO4 FIGURES
- FAOSTAT Crops and livestock products trade, bulk dataset, 2024 data, It is one of the world's largest beef, wheat, wool and canola exporters. check
- FAOSTAT Crops and livestock products trade, bulk dataset, 2024 data corroboration check
- FAOSTAT Crops and livestock products trade, bulk dataset, 2024 data corroboration check
- FAOSTAT Production of crops and livestock products, Oceania bulk dataset, 2024 data corroboration check
Study Australia4 FIGURES
- Australian Government (Austrade), Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold the world's oldest continuous living cultures, stretching b check
- Australian Government (Austrade), Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples corroboration check
- Australian Government (Austrade), Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples corroboration check
- Australian Government (Austrade), Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples corroboration check
BirdLife International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC3 FIGURES
- UN SDG Global Database, terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_PTD_TERR, Australia, 2025 (57.7%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, marine Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_MRN_MPA, Australia, 2025 (66.2%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, freshwater Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_PTD_FRHWTR, Australia, 2025 (37.8%), country-reported check
FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment3 FIGURES
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area (% of land area) AG_LND_FRST, Australia, 2025 (17.4%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area under a long-term management plan (%) AG_LND_FRSTMGT, Australia, 2025 (28.1%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area inside legally established protected areas (%) AG_LND_FRSTPRCT, Australia, 2025 (18.1%), country-reported check
UNESCO Institute for Statistics data, distributed3 FIGURES
Australian Wool Innovation2 FIGURES
FiBL and IFOAM Organics International2 FIGURES
IUCN Species Survival Commission2 FIGURES
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme2 FIGURES
651 FIGURE
- 000 years is the published Madjedbebe age but is actively disputed, O'Connell et al. 2018 PNAS check
ABARES / Dept of Agriculture1 FIGURE
- Fisheries and Forestry, food self-sufficiency and imports (~11% of food consumed), 2024-25 check
Australian Bureau of Statistics1 FIGURE
- national statistical authority check
Australian Government (DCCEEW)1 FIGURE
- National waste and resource recovery report 2024, page 63 check
Australian Government DCCEEW1 FIGURE
- Net Zero. check
Climate Watch (WRI)1 FIGURE
- Net-Zero Tracker check
CNN1 FIGURE
- Australia commits to zero extinctions with new plan to protect 30 per cent of land, 2022. check
Constitute Project1 FIGURE
- Australia 1901 (rev. 1985) check
DCCEEW1 FIGURE
- National Waste Report (resource recovery ~60%, household recycling ~46%), 2022 check
FiBL / IFOAM1 FIGURE
- The World of Organic Agriculture (organic ~9.9% of farmland; 53M ha, world's largest), 2020-2024 check
Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation1 FIGURE
- Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, World Heritage, Gunditjmara communities in Victoria build channels, weirs and holding ponds in volcanic rock, among the oldest check
IEA, World Energy Balances1 FIGURE
- UN SDG Global Database, renewable share of total final energy consumption (%) EG_FEC_RNEW, Australia, 2023 (14.4%), modelled estimate check
IFES ElectionGuide1 FIGURE
- Australia elections and chambers check
Latest Global Carbon Budget year is 20241 FIGURE
- 14.48 t, still about 14.5 check
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service1 FIGURE
- Mungo National Park, Burial and cremation at Lake Mungo are among the oldest known ritual burials anywhere. check
Other published sources1 FIGURE
- Australian Bureau of Statistics / DCCEEW National Reserve System (terrestrial protected ~22.6%), 2024 check
Our World in Data1 FIGURE
- CO2 emissions per capita, from the Global Carbon Budget (2025) corroboration check
Our World in Data (Ember and Energy Institute)1 FIGURE
- Share of electricity from renewables, 2023. check
Our World in Data (Global Carbon Project)1 FIGURE
- CO2 emissions per capita, 2023. check
Our World in Data / Ember1 FIGURE
- Share of electricity from renewables (38.7%), 2025 check
Over 80% endemic1 FIGURE
- per the Australian Museum check
The Pew Charitable Trusts1 FIGURE
- Australia Southern Ocean marine park expansion, 2024 check
The Woolmark Company1 FIGURE
- What is Merino wool. check
UN Protocol and Liaison Service1 FIGURE
- Heads of State, Heads of Government and Ministers for Foreign Affairs, public list dated 20 October 2026 check
UNEP Global E-waste Monitor1 FIGURE
- UN SDG Global Database, electronic waste recycled (%) EN_EWT_RCYR, Australia, 2019 (54.3%), modelled estimate check